Montreal puffin set for release on Grand Banks

This small puffin was flown to Newfoundland by jet on Dec. 23, and is set to be released at a large seabird colony on the Grand Banks. (CBC )

A wayward puffin that had been found on the streets of Montreal and made national headlines when a rescue operation flew it to Newfoundland will be released Friday in the ocean.

Stan Tobin, who has been nursing the small puffin back to health at a wildlife response centre at Ship Cove, in Newfoundland's Placentia Bay, said the seabird is strong enough to be released at the southern Grand Banks.

The area is home to the largest puffin colony in North America, and is warmed by the Gulf Stream. Tobin determined that the frigid inshore waters in Placentia Bay were too cold for the bird, which is now substantially larger than just two weeks ago.